Building an SX1 from parts.

[flashedarling]

As noted before here the X1 micro mill is a nice machine but there are so many extension parts to buy from the Little machine shop that it feels like I would be building it nearly from scratch.

I also like the idea of using a slightly more powerful motor as well as I keep hearing about how the X1 is a little weak.

So if I wanted to get the extended y base, extra long table, and belt drive, from Little Machine Shop. What are my options for the z axis, headstock, motor, controller, and spindle?

Any advice?

[Crevice Reamer]

Hi flashedarling. Welcome to the Zone!

I know it seems wastefull to discard the old table and base, but there is no cheaper way to do it.

You can actually buy every X1 part and screw from LMS--But it might cost you a lot more that way. Best bet IMO is to combine a harbor frieght X1 sale price with a 15 or 20 percent off coupon, and then buy the extended tables and belt kit from LMS.

By the time you are finished though, you almost could have bought an X3 from Grizzly:

http://www.grizzly.com/products/g0463

Of course, you COULD price it out and see what it would cost.

http://littlemachineshop.com/product...ast=micro+mill

CR.

[sansbury]

Wholesale Tool is carrying the Super X1 now under the Jet brand. It doesn't have the extended X table but has the long Y. If you have a store near you it might be price-competitive to avoid shipping charges.

http://www.wttool.com/product-exec/p...g_Machine_JET_

[ZipSnipe]

Stop kidding yourself and just buy an x2 or x3!

[Crevice Reamer]

How about a different, maybe more usable proposal? For about $600:

It shouldn't be very hard to bolt this $95 column to the $106 X1 extended Y travel kit:

http://littlemachineshop.com/product...1766&category=

http://littlemachineshop.com/product...2297&category=

And you could then attach this $299 head, which apparently also includes the gibb strip:

http://littlemachineshop.com/product...1663&category=

Now just add the $85 Long table kit:

http://littlemachineshop.com/product...2642&category=

This will give you an X2 with a 16 inch by 5 3/4 inch table, and 13 inches of X, 5 3/4 inches of Y and about 10 inches of Z. (depending on how high you mount the column.)

And you are ready to CNC it.

I would recommend a Steel under base that extends rearward and mates with a large angle bracket for good rigidity.

http://www.use-enco.com/CGI/INSRIT?P...PMAKA=418-4530

CR.

[flashedarling]

How about a different, maybe more usable proposal? For about $600:

Oooh. I like it. The extra travel of the SX1 with the power of the X2. My only concerns are if this column and head will mate properly with the base. Also is that a tilting column? That makes me worry slightly about the rigidity. The only other issue I would have is that I'll need to check if those Mini-mill parts come in red, style doesn't matter too much but the light green on red color scheme from mixing the parts already gives me a headache.

Would this give me all the necessary screws and bolts to assemble it or would I have to order extra I wonder.

[Crevice Reamer]

Yes. It IS a tilting column. (Uhh, you DO understand that the SX1 is a tilting column design?) Hence the steel under-base and Angle plate attached at rear for increased rigidity. The angle plate bolts to the column after it is trammed. You would need to make a steel mounting adapter to fit between the base and column.

There might be a few screws missing, but everything is available from LMS. ALL in All, this looks extremely doable and should result in a nice mill.

CR.

[DeusExMachina]

Most of the hardware needed to shove it together can probably be found at your local ace hardware/home depot/lowes/menards/<enter hardware store name here>. I've thought about this several times, (mostly because I believe I made a mistake in ordering an x1 and its only become useful now because its under an untiring and far more accurate computer control) and always thought about upgrading with x2 parts.

That said, the parts needed to upgrade an x1 are as expensive as a new x2 shipped freight. The X2's table travel is pretty much exactly the same as the X1s -- its the rigidty that matters to me... The X1's column, well, its bad, and the spindle/motor leave a bit to be desired when it comes to power...

In the 'near future' I'm just going to buy myself and X2... The x1 is nice for small jobs running in aluminum (and running slowly) but the X2 is a much stronger mill (when compared to an x1) and will allow you to work on much bigger projects (not perhaps in dimension but in material, and allow them to get done faster)...

You should look up hoss's X2 Freak, its rather awesome, and there's a lot of things that can be done to an X2 to get extra travel out of them (including replacing the table with a z-axis column

But, if you do go with this plan, please post a thread, I'd love to see how it comes together.

[Edit] Couple other thoughts, there isn't a lot of room under the saddle for ball screws (or under the table either) which may hinder future cnc oppurtunities. The z-axis isn't much of a problem, it can be cnc'd with ball screws in many ways. This is a rather awkward little machine combining parts from two different classes of machine it seems. On the one hand the compact base keeps angular forces acting on the table pretty close the dovetails and is probably quite rigid even at the harder forces you may be tempted to move the table about.

To be perfectly honest I have no idea which would be better, the X1 long base/table or the X2 stock table, they weigh about the same, I imagine the quality of construction is pretty similar. One thing to point out is the X2 stock table is 18" wide and 15" long. I don't know the dimensions of the X2 Extended table, but it looks like 11" wide by ~15". The wider base of the stock X2 may help spread some of the cutting forces, and tension on the column/table out over a wider distance (thus increasing how rigid it is).

I don't have any experience with the extended base, but the X2 base has quite a bit of cross bracing and seems quite beefy. Granted the points that really need to be beefy are the dovetails/dovetail mounts, and the column connection point.
[/edit]

[Crevice Reamer]

Here's an example of the under-base and angle plate column base:

http://cnczone.com/forums/showthread.php?t=57540

CR.

[flashedarling]

Yes. It IS a tilting column. (Uhh, you DO understand that the SX1 is a tilting column design?) Hence the steel under-base and Angle plate attached at rear for increased rigidity. The angle plate bolts to the column after it is trammed. You would need to make a steel mounting adapter to fit between the base and column.
CR.

Ah yes, I forgot. I had been planning on using the extended base without the tilting spindle because I didn't want to deal with retramming it whenever I tilt it + the extra rigidity.

http://littlemachineshop.com/product...ProductID=2297

I might have trouble making the steel mounting adapter because I don't have a mill to make parts on until I build this one.

Although this seems to cost around the same as an HF X2 so I'm trying to figure out the benefits of the hybrid SX1 and the X2.

[DeusExMachina]

If you have a drill press, and a dial indicator, a jig saw or hacksaw, and perhaps some steel shim stock you can probably make a adapter plate out of mild steel from the local hardware store.

Figure out your pattern and drill out the holes needed (and/or tap any holes needed). Put the column on the base and then mount the indicator in the spindle and use the shim stock to tram the column (put the shim stock inbetween the column/adapter plate until the dial indcator shows that the head is parallel with the table).

Or atleast get it close enough so you can mill a more accurate one and then replace the temporary one.

[Crevice Reamer]

I might have trouble making the steel mounting adapter because I don't have a mill to make parts on until I build this one.

It's just a steel plate with holes drilled in it. You can buy it cut to size.

Although this seems to cost around the same as an HF X2 so I'm trying to figure out the benefits of the hybrid SX1 and the X2.

Larger table, more table travel, more rigid than stock X2. CNC mounts available cheap from CNCFusion.com

http://cncfusion.com/micromill1.html

http://cncfusion.com/minimill1.html

CR.